Dog problems and animal control is not helping. - Page 6

SouthDakota - I have a question for you.  Do you guys not have any hawks in South Dakota?   My Brother came out to SD to buy a Griffon Pointer and said that the Ringneck Pheasats are everywhere - we dont have any pheasants or quail left because of the over abundant hawk population.

Probably not, unless it's in the act of attacking your animals.

Even then, it's not likely AC would ever see them.

It COULD be considered "cruelty to animals" unless you could prove the dogs were attacking your animals

The dogs dead body beside your coop makes pretty good proof, although the best thing is stick with the SSS rule

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvtim 

SouthDakota - I have a question for you.  Do you guys not have any hawks in South Dakota?   My Brother came out to SD to buy a Griffon Pointer and said that the Ringneck Pheasats are everywhere - we dont have any pheasants or quail left because of the over abundant hawk population.

Oh we have red tail hawks here and great horned owls... and fox and cougar, coyotes, etc. But we also have LOTS and LOTS of farmers raising "game" pheasants and them being released. The state's bird is perhaps the ONLY state bird in the nation that isn't from the state, let alone the nation! AND AND is hunted in the state that its the state bird of!! Yeh, welcome to South Dakota logic

Come in during hunting season, to our local airports and you find guns guns guns, coming through baggage!

abundant pheasants! LoL

Actually, Dick Cheney accidentally shot his friend while hunting quail in Texas. I think he was shot because he didn't contribute enough money to the Bush and Cheney election campaigns.

http://articles.cnn.com/2006-02-12/politics/cheney_1_katharine-armstrong-birdshot-saturday-afternoon-armstrong-ranch?_s=PM:POLITICS

Unless you know of another time when Cheney shot someone?

Yeah, it was down here in Texas....and I think it was White Wing dove he was hunting....southTexas is big on White Wing dove, even above quail, pheasant  and chachalaca.

Perhaps his annual habit of hunting pheasant in SD is what causes the humor at his expense since he shot a companion in Texas while hunting quail. All I know is his action won't go unnoticed in SD.

Our governor holds an annual pheasant hunt, but don't know if Cheney gets involved in that event. Its pretty much a republican hunting party.

Up here in Ontario Canada we are allowed to protect our livestock IF and only IF we are rural, there are no gun discharging laws AND it is reported to the local police or township office.  However, with that said, I am not sure that I would enjoy shooting a neighbour's dog.  What has worked very very well for me in the past is a very cold, well water fed (aka just above freezing temperature), fire hose.  Stake it out and soak 'em down when they come running.  I have also had a friend that used a super soaker with anti-chew liquid in it...the stuff that can be gotten at the pet store to stop dogs from chewing on furniture and stuff.  Diluted down with water, fill the supersoaker, add some red hot sauce, shake well, and stake it out and soak 'em when they show up.  Because it's on their fur now they get a really good dose of it. 

Now with that said, I have a hunting dog, trained on birds and we keep him tied up if the chickens are running loose.  there's no teaching that one against his instincts. 

Electrics would also work-as long as you bury a wire fence down 2 feet under the bottom electric strand, otherwise they will dig under it.  and put 3 strands...one just above ground level, one at their eye level and one at the top of the fence.  put these about 8-10 inches out from a regular mesh or welded wire fence.  that way when they try to jump the fence they hit one of the wires.  also good idea is to put a ground wire directly underneath (but not touching) the top strand....that way when they jump (and hence are off the ground and not grounded to the grounding rod) they will still ground on the ground wire and get the jolt.

good luck.....

kathy

Poultry keepers where we are have been recommended to take up paint ball shooting as a hobby. That way when you are out target shooting to relieve stress and stray or neighbor dogs attack you or your chickens, its the only thing you have handy to defend yourself and your livestock. *wink*

I live out in the country where folks target shoot in the backyards, so we hear gunfire pretty often and nearly 24/7. Most folks know better than to let their dogs go running about. And those who don't, learn quickly, especially if their dogs are aggressive. This is a neighborhood of veterans and active duty Navy and Marines. There's very little tolerance here for ******** or excuses. And there's a lot of ammunition.

The first year I lived here there was a pack of stray dogs roaming the neighborhood that folks had gotten a bit complacent about since Animal Control wouldn't do anything until there was a problem. Then one of those dogs snapped at a granddaughter of one of the vets (we're a military area). That was the end of that. High noon ensued with men walking the middle of the streets with shotguns and rifles. Within 10 minutes, the phone tree had alerted everyone to bring in their pet dogs just in case. And you better believe we all did. Within 48 hours, they took care of that stray pack. We all know each other's dogs and will drag them back to you if they are friendly. If they aren't, we'll bump them with our trucks back to you. And if that doesn't work and we can't get you on the phone, oh well. You shouldn't have had a dangerous dog in a rural farming area.

We have a drug house a few blocks over. Frankly, we're giving them so much hell, I doubt they'll be here much longer. You'd be amazed how much trouble we can all be. *grin* I'm loaning a couple of my loudest roosters to their neighbors this week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrystInn 

Poultry keepers where we are have been recommended to take up paint ball shooting as a hobby. That way when you are out target shooting to relieve stress and stray or neighbor dogs attack you or your chickens, its the only thing you have handy to defend yourself and your livestock. *wink*

 

I live out in the country where folks target shoot in the backyards, so we hear gunfire pretty often and nearly 24/7. Most folks know better than to let their dogs go running about. And those who don't, learn quickly, especially if their dogs are aggressive. This is a neighborhood of veterans and active duty Navy and Marines. There's very little tolerance here for ******** or excuses. And there's a lot of ammunition.

 

The first year I lived here there was a pack of stray dogs roaming the neighborhood that folks had gotten a bit complacent about since Animal Control wouldn't do anything until there was a problem. Then one of those dogs snapped at a granddaughter of one of the vets (we're a military area). That was the end of that. High noon ensued with men walking the middle of the streets with shotguns and rifles. Within 10 minutes, the phone tree had alerted everyone to bring in their pet dogs just in case. And you better believe we all did. Within 48 hours, they took care of that stray pack. We all know each other's dogs and will drag them back to you if they are friendly. If they aren't, we'll bump them with our trucks back to you. And if that doesn't work and we can't get you on the phone, oh well. You shouldn't have had a dangerous dog in a rural farming area.

 

We have a drug house a few blocks over. Frankly, we're giving them so much hell, I doubt they'll be here much longer. You'd be amazed how much trouble we can all be. *grin* I'm loaning a couple of my loudest roosters to their neighbors this week.

Your stories remind me of a few things.

One was a group of friends in Highland Park, Michigan that got tired of the drug house that the cops wouldn't do anything about and the landlord of the dump wouldn't do anything about. So the local Muslim men went visiting their neighbor (the drug house) and encouraged all the squatters it wasn't safe being in that house. They got them all to go out for a period of time...and then there was this strange and unexpected fire that burnt down that drug den. (wink)

Similar happenings happened in Brooklyn NY in a neighborhood run a muck with drug dealers, until a mosque was built in that neighborhood and the local African American Muslim men cleaned up the neighborhood.

Now the other part of your story that reminded me of how others sometimes deal with issues of strays, has to do with a couple vicious dogs killing a little boy while he stood at his bus stop in the morning. It turned out the owner was an urban dweller who also owned some rural semi-abandoned property. The dogs had been removed from the urban area by the owner because they had been attacking people. Instead he imported his vicious animals to an unsuspecting rural area. After the killing of that little boy (elementary age), dog laws in our state changed. No longer could people be allowed to just let their dogs run about. The boy died a horrifying way and I'd rather shoot a vicious dog regardless of whether it is my neighbors or not; then ever let another critter or human die in that way.

We also in my town have a law regarding stray cats. While felines are more tolerated as roaming animals, there are limits. If you let your cats breed uncontrolled and they go feral, the town ordinances allow for their destruction (Be it being shot, poisoned or trapped). We also suffer from dump offs due to a nearby university and larger community. So those nitwits think they can just dump their cats out by our local grain elevator and they can "fend for themselves". Mind you most puss-n-boot cats ain't got the whits to even survive one winter because they don't know how to hunt. Some can KILL readily and each spring they slaughter everything in site, leaving the carcases for us to clean up. But they don't know what to do one they maim or kill the critters (bunnies, song birds, ducklings, chickens, possums, etc)  So while some may think its more merciful to let them live, starving to death slowly is a horrible way to die or worse yet slowly dying from starvation/cold and sickness. So I believe the village's approach is mercy for most of the stray cats. The residents know the strays from the "owned" since its the law here that all cats are to wear collars. If you don't keep your cat collared because "it might get caught on something when you let it wonder"... well you are gambling with its life expectancy in that its likely to be killed as a stray. I have birds and regardless of whether its a stray or a "owned", I don't believe feline owners should be allowed to let their animals roam. Their animals are in fact more destructive to small livestock (poultry and rabbits) than the random dog. I've had my back porch sprayed by cats who think they have the right to take over it. And then it stinks to high heaven. Had one stray cat destroy my water garden trying to remove the water lily because he wanted the water. He wasn't a stray, but merely a "owned" cat whose owner never watered or fed him. He was supposed to "fend" for himself. So he did in my yard! He died several years later when a car hit him while he was running across the street. Sad way for him to go just because the owner wouldn't relinquish him to someone who would have cared for him in a home setting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bullitt 

Actually, Dick Cheney accidentally shot his friend while hunting quail in Texas. I think he was shot because he didn't contribute enough money to the Bush and Cheney election campaigns.

 

I'd rather hunt with Dick Cheney than ride with Ted Kennedy.